Pallor – Causes of Pale Skin or Paleness

What Is Paleness?

Paleness (pallor in Latin) is abnormal loss of color from normal skin or mucous membranes due to reduced amount of the blood in the skin arteries.

Paleness should be distinguished from other causes of prominent white skin:

Fair skin is genetically determined skin hue with low concentration of skin pigment (melanin) in the skin. This skin hue is common in people in north European countries (Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Scandinavian countries).

Albinism is a rare genetic disorder with partial or complete lack of melanin in the skin, hair and iris of the eye. Affected persons have white skin and hair, and red iris.

Vitiligo is a patchy loss of skin color due to destruction of pigment cells (melanocytes) from an unknown cause.

Everyday Causes of Paleness

Paleness does not always mean you are ill.

When exposed to low environmental temperature, your face, palms or other body parts may become pale because of narrowing (constriction) of the small skin arteries as part of a body’s heat-saving process.

When you keep your arms or legs above the level of the heart for a minute, they may become pale (and numb or tingling), since the power of the heart can not efficiently pump the blood into the limbs against the force of gravitation.

Which Tests Can You Expect?

You can expect a doctor will ask you when did paleness appear, is it present all the time, which parts of your body affects, and what other symptoms you might have (check patient’s medical history form).

During physical examination, a doctor will check the color of your skin and mucous membranes in your mouth and eyes, size of the thyroid and liver and arterial pulse on your limbs, listen the heart and perform basic neurological examination. After that, some of the flowing tests might be needed to find a diagnosis:

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